The Associated Press | Posted: Monday, July 10, 2006 12:00 am
DENVER (AP) - All the rain over the last several days hasn't done much to solve Colorado's lingering drought, experts say.
Tom Cech, manager of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, said the weekend rain was welcome news for ranching and farming operations. Still, he said the rainfall would be swiftly absorbed and used up by thirsty crops.
"It's very helpful, but we live in such a dry climate, the effects will only be around for a few days or a week," Cech said.
The weekend rain brought Denver's precipitation total to 3.79 inches this year - just 44 percent of normal. Parts of Cheyenne County, in eastern Colorado, received up to 8 inches of rain.
Mike Gillespie, a snow survey supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said the rain overall wouldn't do much to alleviate the state's drought, despite flooding that damaged roads and homes in southern Douglas County and shut down Interstate 25 near Pueblo.
"It's not going to be a summer rain event that breaks the drought, but a couple of good years of snowpack," he said.
Farmer David Eckhardt of La Salle said the steady, consistent rainfall was more valuable than a downpour.
"It was a million-dollar rain coming down nice and slow, and it all got soaked in rather than running off," he said.
Eckhardt said he expected the water to help corn, sugar beets, pinto beans and alfalfa crops, though he knows one long weekend of rain isn't enough.
"It won't even make a dent in the drought," he said. "We've got a long way to go."
Information from: Denver Rocky Mountain News, http://www.insidedenver.com